System and method for card-linked services

ABSTRACT

A system and method are disclosed for providing a promotion associated with a transaction account. Target viewer information associated with at least one person targeted to receive an ad is identified. In accordance with the target viewer information and the ad, a probability of the at least one person to accept the promotion is determined. Promotion information associated with the promotion is selected as a function of the determined probability, and the promotion information is transmitted to a computing device associated with the at least one person. An acceptance of the promotion is received from the computing device associated with the at least one person, and processed to associate the promotion with the transaction account.

FIELD

The present application relates, generally, to communications and, moreparticularly, to a system and method for providing card-linkedadvertisement offers.

BACKGROUND

Large online networks, such as relating to search engines, socialnetwork sites, e-commerce sites, news and entertainment providers, orthe like often collect registration data and browsing behavior data ontheir user populations. During the a registration process, for example,users often provide personally identifiable information such as name,e-mail address, gender, physical address information, or the like. Incases of mobile software applications, providers often access names andphone numbers of users' contacts, other applications that are installedon a mobile device, telephone number, device ID. Using this information,providers can imply a number of metrics. By capturing user data points,providers can infer new information from analyzing the attributes of theaggregated population. For instance, an implied metric may be a user'saddress. Using GPS information from a user's phone, a social networksite and others can monitor the latitude/longitude of the device atnight. A mobile software application may provide access to a user'se-mail address and phone number, and inferred metrics can include otherinformation, such as the type of device, operating system, or the like.GPS information may be provided if a user opts in, and can includeinformation such as a user's zip code or the like. Moreover, theseopted-in records can be sold and used for a variety of purposesincluding online behavioral advertising. For example, a news-relatedsite associated with a company that provides home delivery has access toaddress information for its customers. Further to this example, aninferred data point would be that that a customer owns a tablet devicebecause that customer accesses the news-related site from a mobilebrowser. In some cases these sites have an e-commerce platform and alsoreceive payment card numbers.

In addition to data collection, such records can be matched againstdatabases at consumer research companies, credit bureaus, or one anotherto create detailed consumer profiles.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the presentapplication is presented.

SUMMARY

A system and method are disclosed for providing a promotion associatedwith a transaction account. Target viewer information associated with atleast one person targeted to receive an advertisement is identified. Inaccordance with the target viewer information and the advertisement, aprobability of the at least one person to accept the promotion isdetermined. Promotion information associated with the promotion isselected as a function of the determined probability, and the promotioninformation is transmitted to a computing device associated with the atleast one person. An acceptance of the promotion is received from thecomputing device associated with the at least one person, and processedto associate the promotion with the transaction account.

In one or more implementations, the target viewer information includesat least one of demographics, geography, browsing behavior, assetownership data, wealth data, spending behavior, and other data whereindetermining the probability of the at least one person to accept thepromotion includes applying analytics of the target viewer information.The analytics can include statistical techniques to identify apropensity to accept the promotion. The analytics can includeidentifying that the target viewer is associated with at least one ofthe respective demographic, the geography, and/or the spending behaviorand identifying that the target viewer fits a historical profile of oneor more people that have a propensity to accept the promotion, andidentifying that the target viewer fits a historical profile of one ormore people that have a propensity to accept the promotion.

In one or more implementations, at least one rule associated with thetarget viewer information is received from a computing device associatedwith the advertisement, and determining the probability of the at leastone person to accept the promotion is in accordance with the at leastone rule.

Furthermore, in one or more implementations a propensity scoreassociated with the advertisement and the target viewer information isidentified, wherein determining the probability of the at least oneperson to accept the promotion includes an application of the propensityscore.

In one or more implementations, second promotion information associatedwith a second promotion is selected as a function of the determinedprobability, and the second promotion information is transmitted to asecond computing device associated with at least one other person of theplurality of people. An acceptance of the second promotion is receivedand processed and the second promotion information is processed toassociate the second promotion with a second transaction accountassociated with the at least one other person.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the disclosure canbe understood with reference to the following detailed description ofcertain embodiments of the disclosure taken together in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example hardware arrangement that operates forproviding the systems and methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates functional elements of an information processor orworkstation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representing three example implementations inaccordance with the present application.

FIGS. 4-6 are flowcharts that illustrate example steps associated withimplementations of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that illustrates example steps associated with anexample implementation for assigning an offer to a transaction account.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate example progressions of operation of a displayscreen that represent an example on-line network associated with asocial network website.

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate example progressions of operation of a displayscreen that represents an example on-line network associated with asports ticket purchase site.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate alternative example progressions of operationof a display screen that represent an example on-line network associatedwith a social network website.

DESCRIPTION

The present application provides redeemable offers that are applied to atransaction account, for example, that is associated with a payment card(e.g., a debit card, credit card or other type of card). This is unlikeknown systems in which promotions, coupons or the like are often sent tousers via e-mail or postal mail and thereafter redeemed.

In one or more implementations, the present application provides anarchitecture and process for the assignment of a promotion and/or offerto be associated with a transaction account, such as associated with acredit card, bank debit card or the like, within an on-line network inwhich users register. For example, a user registers with a web siteusing first name, last name, e-mail address, physical mailing address,and phone number. As used herein, an on-line network refers, generally,to an Internet-based resource in which users register. Examples mayinclude social network web sites, e-commerce web sites, news andentertainment web sites, and mobile applications. Once registered, theuser has access to one or more features that are provided by the site,and the site has access to personally identifiable information andmetadata associated with the user.

In one or more implementations, the present application provides apromotion associated with an on-line user's transaction account. In suchimplementation(s), target user information associated with at least oneuser targeted to receive an advertisement is identified. Target userinformation may include, for example, the user's past purchasingbehavior, the user's propensity for future purchasing, a particular agegroup, visitors to a particular Internet web site, or one or morepersons accessing a particular mobile software application. Target usersmay include those who are slated to see the advertisement for satisfyingcriteria that have been established by an advertiser for showingadvertisements. A visitor to a webpage, for example, may be within somedefinition of a target-user in accordance with an advertiser's campaign.In accordance with the target individual user information and theadvertisement, a probability of the person(s) to accept the promotionmay be determined. Thereafter and as a function of the determinedprobability, promotion information associated with the promotion isselected. For example, promotional information associated with aparticular brand of handbag may be selected in view of a determinationthat the viewer is a female under 25 years old and has a 55% probabilityof being receptive to a promotion associated with the handbag. In thisexample, the respective advertising criteria may include women between20-40 years old who purchase in the category more than once a year. Thepromotion information is transmitted to a computing device associatedwith the person(s). In response to the transmitted promotioninformation, an acceptance of the promotion is received from thecomputing device and the promotion information is processed to associatethe promotion with the transaction account.

In one or more implementations, the present application provides apromotion associated with a transaction account, in which advertisingtargeting criteria is submitted to a computing device associated with adata management platform. The advertising targeting criteria is usableto target at least one individual purchaser to receive a respectiveadvertisement for the promotion. For example, the targeting informationmay represent one or more of a particular age group, gender, incomelevel, geography, web site usage, and purchase history, among otherdemographic characteristics. Web site usage may include one or more of aplurality of characteristics. For example, a web site usage may includeone or more of a history of internet web sites visited by the person(s),a length of time the person(s) visited an internet web site, the numberof times the person(s) visited an internet web site, one or moreproducts or services offered for sale on an internet web site visited bythe person(s), a number of selections in an internet web site made bythe at least person, and a length of time since the person(s) visited aninternet web site. This may include or in addition, the number of timesthat an individual purchaser had previously seen an offer or promotionassociated with a specific campaign. In such implementation(s), viewerinformation that is associated with individual purchaser(s) targeted toreceive the respective advertisement is received and processed.

Referring now to the drawings figures in which like reference numeralsrefer to like elements, there is shown in FIG. 1 a diagram of an examplehardware arrangement that operates for providing the systems and methodsdisclosed herein, and designated generally as system 100. System 100 ispreferably comprised of one or more information processors 102 coupledto one or more user workstations 104 across communication network 106.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 1, user workstations may include, forexample, mobile computing devices such as tablet computing devices,smartphones, personal digital assistants or the like. Further, printedoutput is provided, for example, via output printers 110.

Information processor 102 preferably includes all necessary databasesfor the present disclosure, including image files, metadata and otherinformation. However, it is contemplated that information processor 102can access any required databases via communication network 106 or anyother communication network to which information processor 102 hasaccess. Information processor 102 can communicate devices comprisingdatabases using any known communication method, including a directserial, parallel, USB interface, or via a local or wide area network.

User workstations 104 communicate with information processors 102 usingdata connections 108, which are respectively coupled to communicationnetwork 106. Communication network 106 can be any communication network,but is typically the Internet or some other global computer network.Data connections 108 can be any known arrangement for accessingcommunication network 106, such as dial-up serial line interfaceprotocol/point-to-point protocol (SLIPP/PPP), integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN), dedicated leased-line service, broadband (cable)access, frame relay, digital subscriber line (DSL), asynchronoustransfer mode (ATM) or other access techniques.

User workstations 104 preferably have the ability to send and receivedata across communication network 106, and are equipped with webbrowsers to display the received data on display devices incorporatedtherewith. By way of example, user workstation 104 may be personalcomputers, but are not limited to such computers. Other workstationsthat can communicate over a global computer network such as palmtopcomputers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mass-marketed Internetaccess devices such as WebTV can be used. In addition, the hardwarearrangement of the present disclosure is not limited to devices that arephysically wired to communication network 106. Of course, one skilled inthe art will recognize that wireless devices can communicate withinformation processors 102 using wireless data communication connections(e.g., WIFI).

According to an embodiment of the present application, user workstation104 provides user access to information processor 102. The specificfunctionality provided by system 100, and in particular informationprocessors 102, is described in detail below.

System 100 preferably includes software that provides functionalitydescribed in greater detail herein, and preferably resides on one ormore information processors 102 and/or user workstations 104. One of thefunctions performed by information processor 102 is that of operating asa web server and/or a web site host. Information processors 102typically communicate with communication network 106 across a permanenti.e., unswitched data connection 108. Permanent connectivity ensuresthat access to information processors 102 is always available.

As shown in FIG. 2 the functional elements of each information processor102 or workstation 104, and preferably include one or more centralprocessing units (CPU) 202 used to execute software code in order tocontrol the operation of information processor 102, read only memory(ROM) 204, random access memory (RAM) 206, one or more networkinterfaces 208 to transmit and receive data to and from other computingdevices across a communication network, storage devices 210 such as ahard disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, CD-ROM or DVD drive forstoring program code, databases and application code, one or more inputdevices 212 such as a keyboard, mouse, track ball and the like, and adisplay 214.

The various components of information processor 102 need not bephysically contained within the same chassis or even located in a singlelocation. For example, as explained above with respect to databases thatcan reside on storage device 210, storage device 210 may be located at asite which is remote from the remaining elements of informationprocessors 102, and may even be connected to CPU 202 acrosscommunication network 106 via network interface 208.

The functional elements shown in FIG. 2 (designated by reference numbers202-214) are preferably the same categories of functional elementspreferably present in user workstation 104. However, not all elementsneed be present, for example, storage devices in the case of PDAs, andthe capacities of the various elements are arranged to accommodateexpected user demand. For example, CPU 202 in user workstation 104 maybe of a smaller capacity than CPU 202 as present in informationprocessor 102. Similarly, it is likely that information processor 102will include storage devices 210 of a much higher capacity than storagedevices 210 present in workstation 104. Of course, one of ordinary skillin the art will understand that the capacities of the functionalelements can be adjusted as needed.

The nature of the present application is such that one skilled in theart of writing computer executed code (software) can implement thedescribed functions using one or more or a combination of a popularcomputer programming language, including, but not limited to, C++,VISUAL BASIC, JAVA, ACTIVEX, HTML, XML, ASP, SOAP, IOS, ANDROID, TORR,Ruby, Python, Ruby on Rails, SAAS and PHP, and various web applicationdevelopment environments.

As used herein, references to displaying data on user workstation 104refer to the process of communicating data to the workstation acrosscommunication network 106 and processing the data such that the data canbe viewed on the user workstation 104 display 214 using a web browser orthe like. The display screens on user workstation 104 present areaswithin system 100 such that a user can proceed from area to area withinthe system 100 by selecting a desired link. Therefore, each user'sexperience with system 100 will be based on the order with which (s)heprogresses through the display screens. In other words, because thesystem is not completely hierarchical in its arrangement of displayscreens, users can proceed from area to area without the need to“backtrack” through a series of display screens. For that reason andunless stated otherwise, the following discussion of the components ofsystem 100 is not intended to represent any sequential operation steps.

Although the present application is described by way of example hereinin terms of a web-based system using web browsers and a web site server(information processor 102), and with mobile computing devices (104)system 100 is not limited to that particular configuration. It iscontemplated that system 100 can be arranged such that user workstation104 can communicate with, and display data received from, informationprocessor 102 using any known communication and display method, forexample, using a non-Internet browser Windows viewer coupled with alocal area network protocol such as the Internetwork Packet Exchange(IPX). It is further contemplated that any suitable operating system canbe used on user workstation 104, including any suitable PDA or palmcomputer operating system, if applicable.

As shown and described herein, the present application providesredeemable offers that are applied to a transaction account, forexample, that is associated with a payment card (e.g., a debit card,credit card or other card). This precludes a requirement of additionalregistration by the user, including the submission of personallyidentifiable information that may be otherwise required of thepurchaser.

With reference now to the block diagram shown in FIG. 3, as noted hereinthe present application provides an architecture and process 302 for theassignment of a promotion and/or offer to be associated with atransaction account, such as associated with a credit card, bank debitcard or the like, within an on-line network in which users register. Inone or more other implementations, the present application provides apromotional advertising unit 304 associated with an individualpurchaser's transaction account. Moreover, in one or moreimplementations, the present application provides a promotion associatedwith a transaction account, in which advertising targeting criteria issubmitted to a computing device associated with a data managementplatform 306. Attributes in a data management platform may be assignedand stored to individual user cookies. A ‘bidding exchange’ can includean environment where advertisers participate in an auction to show theirpromotion to a user with relevant target characteristics. Detailsassociated with each of the respective implementations are described ingreater detail, herein.

In accordance with one or more implementations of the presentapplication, various forms of offers, such as coupons, promotions orother offers may be provided without a need for a user to register orotherwise submit personally identifiable information and/or financialinformation in order to redeem the offer. In one or moreimplementations, a payment card (or other account identifier) number issubstantially automatically associated with other information, such aspersonal identifiable information or non-identifiable attributes, from aplurality of disparate data sources. An entity such as a credit bureau,a consumer data collection firm, a database marketing company, a loyaltycard provider, an issuing bank or the like may have informationrepresenting people's payment card numbers as well as other personallyidentifiable information of the people, such as full name, birth date,e-mail address, education, school attended, home value, mortgage value,presence of children or the like. A proprietor of the presentapplication may provide some form of personally identifiable informationreceived from an on-line network, such as an e-mail address or username, to the entity that has access to such personally identifiableinformation and transaction account information. Thereafter, a match maybe made of the personally identifiable information with one or moretransaction accounts held by a person, and information representing arespective person's accounts may be provided thereby. In this way, anentity having access to information to identify an individual, but withno access to financial information associated with the individual maynow offer promotions, discounts or other financial benefits with outrequiring intrusive requests of the individual, as a function of thepresent application. Alternatively, personally identifiable informationmay not be transmitted. Instead, for example, unique user identifierscan get passed back and forth to ensure compliance with one or moreprivacy concerns, laws and/or policies.

In one or more implementations, an assignment of a promotion/offer isreceived, which is to be provided to an on-line user (e.g., anindividual purchaser using standard web browser software accessing anInternet web page, or a person using a mobile application and accessingan Internet-based resource). For example, a user selecting a search,display, video, or other resource that may be capable of providing acoupon, promotion or other offer may be applied to a payment card,without requiring additional input or action from the user. The resultis a new advertisement unit type enabling a user to assign an offer to atransaction account associated with a payment card. The offer isredeemable straight to a card, without requiring any other information,such as registration information, from the consumer. In one or moreembodiments, users do not need to print anything, and do not need topresent a barcode on an application, or other such steps. Instead, auser simply pays and the point of sale system applies the discount. Thediscount can get applied immediately at purchase, or be applied as astatement credit at the end of the billing cycle.

In accordance with one or more implementations, a coupon, promotion orother offer is processed to associate the offer with a transactionaccount. Such offer may be pre-determined or, alternatively, rules maybe configured and/or applied to determine in real-time. The offer may beoffered as a function of various conditions, such as the number ofoffers that have been redeemed generally or by a respective user, thevalue of the respective user to a merchant or other factor. Otherconditions may include historical purchase behavior, for example, whichare usable to preclude sending offers for a product or brand that acustomer would not want.

FIGS. 4-7 are flowcharts illustrating example steps associated withimplementations of the present application. In accordance with one ormore implementations, including as set forth in the steps associatedwith FIGS. 4-7, a promotion can be associated with a respective account,and that the association of the promotion with the account does notrequire that the account has transacted for a good/service. The presentapplication supports that the account is able to redeem a promotionshould the account holder choose to transact.

With reference now to FIG. 4, in one or more implementations, an offerassociated with a promotion or rebate is received from a first party,such as a merchant offering goods or services for sale (step 402). Forexample, an electronic coupon offered to an individual purchaser for a20% discount is received from a merchant that sells purses and handbags.As used herein, the term, “individual purchaser,” refers generally toany person who may be deemed to purchase a good or service at some time.A “targeted individual purchaser,” may refer to a specific individualpurchaser who is targeted to receive an advertisement due to the personmeeting certain criteria, such as men, between the ages of 24-35 and whobuy rock concert tickets. The offer may be processed to associate thepurchaser with one or more accounts, such as in connection with a creditcard, debit card or other suitable card. In one or more implementations,this may occur by transmitting information representing the individualpurchaser to a card-link offer company (step 404). As used herein, acard-link offer company refers, generally, to an entity that has accessto information representing one or more accounts of individualpurchasers. In one-or more implementations, a card-linked offer companyis able to instruct a merchant's point of sale (POS) system which cardsto apply an offer to, and the respective terms of an offer. Thecard-linked offer company passes, substantially in real time, thetransaction accounts that had interacted with a card-linked offeradvertising unit and that subsequently had opted to associate an offerwith one or more respective accounts. An example of such an entity maybe, for example, a credit bureau. Thereafter, information may bereceived from the card-link offer company that represents the individualpurchaser and one or more of the purchaser's accounts. For example, theindividual purchaser who received the advertisement for the 20% discountselects the advertisement and information representing the purchaser istransmitted to a card-link offer company. Thereafter, information isreceived from the card-link offer company that represents the purchaserand three of the purchaser's respective payment card numbers. Thenumbers may be formatted such that only a portion of the number isvisible. The purchaser is prompted to select one of the three accountsfor applying the offer.

After the user selects one of the accounts, information representing theselected account may be received and thereafter, a combination of theoffer and the selected account is transmitted to the card-link offercompany (step 406). Thereafter, when the purchaser purchases the item(in the present example a handbag), the 20% discount is applied directlyto the account associated with the received card. This may occur byreceiving transaction information representing a transaction associatedwith the offer information and the account information (step 408). Thetransaction information is processed to associate the transaction withthe transaction account associated with the purchaser and the promotionor rebate (step 410). Continuing with the present example, this enablesthe 20% discount to be applied (step 412).

In one or more alternative implementations, various personallyidentifiable information associated with purchasers may be obtained,including by purchase, which may be stored for future reference. Forexample, demographic information and personally identifiable informationmay be purchased from one or more card-linked offer companies andmatched with other information representing individual purchasers and aunique index value (e.g., a “key”) may be generated that represents thematch. This information may be purchased from a credit bureau/consumerresearch firm.

Moreover, offer information that is received from one or more merchantsmay be stored for access prior to receiving transaction information. Forexample, after an individual purchaser selects an offer and, thereafter,purchases an item associated with the offer, information associated withthe offer may be accessed and used to apply the offer to the purchase.Such offers may be pre-determined or rules may be configured todetermine, substantially in real-time, which offer a respectiveindividual purchaser user is to receive. One or more variables, such asthe number of redeemed offers or the relative value of an individualpurchaser to a respective merchant, may be used in the determination ofwhich particular offer an individual purchaser should receive.

In accordance with one or more implementations, the individualpurchaser's transaction account is securely and operatively coupled to atrusted service manager or a transaction card. The transaction card maybe, for example, a credit card, a debit card, a rewards card, a giftcard, a hotel room key and/or a membership card. In one or moreimplementations, the card has a name, address, or some other type ofpersonally identifiable information associated with it that thecard-linked offer company can use for matching. In one or moreimplementations, the card may be a gift card that has other information,such as relating to a credit card or debit card that was used topurchase the gift card, and/or the name/e-mail address of the intendedrecipient associated therewith. The transaction card may further beassociated with a database that includes one or more characteristicand/or registration information that is usable to be matched to thefirst user.

In one or more implementations, various processing steps may beassociated with the offer information. At least some of the offerinformation may be transmitted to a computing device associated with anon-line network and, thereafter, purchaser identification informationrepresenting at least an identification associated with the individualpurchaser may be received. For example, the on-line network may includea social network, an e-mail network, or login that persists acrossvarious sites. An example of such persistence occurs when informationreceived in FACEBOOK® is passed to any site that has a “LIKE” button orFACEBOOK content. Alternatively, the on-line network may include anyInternet web site in which users register to access services provided bythe web site. For example, the on-line network may be a provider of newscontent, entertainment media, e-mail or other content. The purchaseridentification information may then be associated with the at least onetransaction account. As noted herein, the individual purchaseridentification information may include various kinds of informationassociated with the purchaser such as, for example, name, email address,zip code, address, gender, telephone number, income, education, debt,family member(s), census tract, and demographics.

Furthermore, processing at least some of the offer information mayinclude accessing one or more databases that store informationassociated with individual purchasers and transaction accounts.Thereafter, at least some of the information included in the databasemay be selected that corresponds with at least the individual purchaser.Moreover, the transaction account(s) may be at least two transactionaccounts. In such case, a selection of one of the transaction accounts,and the rebate or promotion may be applied to the selected onetransaction account. The rebate may be applied (i) at the time oftransaction or (ii) as a statement credit at the end of the billingcycle. Information associated with the account may be formatted toinclude information associated with the promotion or rebate and thetransaction account. The transaction account information may include,for example, a credit card number and expiration date, and informationassociated with the individual purchaser.

With reference now to FIG. 5, in one or more implementations, thepresent application provides a promotion associated with an individualpurchaser's transaction account. In such implementation(s), targetindividual purchaser information associated with at least one individualpurchaser targeted to receive an advertisement is identified (step 502).Target individual purchaser information may include, for example, aparticular age group, visitors to a particular Internet web site or oneor more persons accessing a particular mobile software application. Inaccordance with the target individual purchaser information and theadvertisement, a probability of the person(s) to accept the promotionmay be determined (step 504). Thereafter, and as a function of thedetermined probability, promotion information associated with thepromotion is selected (step 506). For example, the probability may be 0%and the person may still see the advertisement. This could occur if thetarget viewing criteria is potentially “show the ad to every user thatvisits website.” For example, promotional information associated with aparticular brand of handbag may be selected in view of a determinationthat the viewer is a female under 25 years old and has a 55% probabilityof being receptive to a promotion associated with the handbag. Thepromotion information is transmitted to a computing device associatedwith the person(s) (step 508). In response to the transmitted promotioninformation, an acceptance of the promotion is received from thecomputing device and the promotion information is processed to associatethe promotion with the transaction account (step 510). If the user hasmultiple transaction accounts, the user can select the desired accountfor loading the promotion.

In accordance with one or more implementations of the presentapplication, the target individual purchaser information associated withat least one person includes at least one of demographics, geography andspending behavior associated with the individual purchaser. Theprobability of the at least one individual purchaser to accept thepromotion includes applying analytics associated with of the targetindividual purchaser information. Moreover, the analytics may includestatistical techniques to identify a propensity of the individualpurchaser to accept the promotion, or that the target individualpurchaser is associated with at least one of the respective demographic,the geography, and/or the spending behavior, and further identifyingthat the target individual purchaser fits a historical profile of one ormore people that have a propensity to or actually did accept thepromotion.

The target individual purchaser information in accordance with thepresent application may be stored in or otherwise be associated with acookie ID or mobile device ID. As used herein, a “mobile device ID” mayrefer, generally, to one or more various identifiers, including e-mailaddress, cell phone number, device serial number or an identifierassigned by or otherwise associated with an application provider/mobilesite publisher. The mobile device ID, therefore, associates a user witha device. In one or more implementations, a “cookie” may be formatted asa text file and stored on a user's computing device, which is accessibleby a web browser software application. In such implementation, data onthe browser are provided in the cookie text file. Alternatively, datamay be linked or otherwise associated with a cookie and accessible in adatabase/server. In this respect, the data are “associated” with acookie, but not necessarily provided in the cookie itself. Moreover, thetarget individual purchaser information may be identified after (s)helogs into a computing device over a network.

Moreover, at least one rule be defined and/or applied that is associatedwith the target individual purchaser information. The rule(s) may bereceived from a computing device associated with the promotion, and theprobability of the at least one individual purchaser to accept thepromotion may be determined in accordance with the rule(s). In suchcase, information associated with the individual purchaser may be knownin advance. For example, a cookie ID or mobile device ID may beassociated with geographic and/or demographic information, and spendingcharacteristics may be assessed or referenced for a variety ofindividual purchasers over time. Characteristics may get associatedwhen: (i) the cookie enters an environment where registration/login isrequired and the cookie is associated with the registration data; (ii)an IP address from which the cookie is accessing the internet is mappedto a physical location; and/or (iii) a cookie browses sites thatcontextually allow demographic information to be associated.

As noted herein and in accordance with one or more implementations, theindividual purchaser's transaction account is securely and operativelycoupled to a trusted service manager or a transaction card. Thetransaction card may be, for example, a credit card, a debit card, arewards card, a gift card, a hotel room key and/or a membership card. Inone or more implementations, the card has a name, address, or some othertype of personally identifiable information associated with it that thecard-linked offer company can use for matching. In one or moreimplementations, the card may be a gift card that has other information,such as relating to a credit card or debit card that was used topurchase the gift card, associated therewith. The transaction card mayfurther be associated with a database that includes one or morecharacteristic and/or registration information that is usable to bematched to the first user.

In one or more implementations, a propensity score may be identifiedthat is associated with an offer/promotion and information associatedwith the target individual purchaser. The probability of the at leastone individual purchaser to accept the promotion may include anapplication of the propensity score.

Although many of the examples and descriptions provided herein relate toa single promotion or offer being provided to an individual purchaser,such as formatted in an advertisement, multiple promotions and/or offersmay be provided to an individual purchaser. In one or moreimplementations, a second offer and/or promotion may be selected as afunction of the determined probability of the at least one individualpurchaser to accept a promotion. The second offer/promotion may be sentto the individual purchaser. In cases in which the individual purchaseris associated with a plurality of people (e.g., a plurality ofindividual purchasers), the second promotion may be transmitted to atleast one other person of the plurality who is not the same person whoreceived the first promotion and/or offer. The first purchaser can sendthe promotion to another person. Alternatively, in cases in whichmultiple persons are associated, the secondary purchasers may receiveone or more offers on the basis of this association. For example, aperson may be likely to buy what friends/family with whom they share oneor more particular characteristics buy. An acceptance of the offer maybe received from the computing device associated with the other person.In such case, the second promotion may be processed to associate thesecond promotion with a second transaction account associated with theother person.

In addition or in the alternative to sending a second promotion and/oroffer to a second individual purchaser, one individual purchaser may besent two promotions at substantially the same time. For example, anindividual purchaser perusing an Internet web site directed to newscontent receives three banner advertisements, each providing arespective offer and/or promotion. Further, offers and/or promotions maybe distributed to individual purchasers by one or more other individualpurchasers who previously received the offers and/or promotions. Forexample, someone who forwards or otherwise sends an offer and/orpromotion received in accordance with the present application mayreceive to three other people may receive an additional promotion and/oroffer. By contributing to advertisement conversions, various individualpurchasers may enjoy greater benefits associated with offers and/orpromotions.

With reference now to FIG. 6, in one or more implementations the presentapplication provides a promotion associated with a transaction account,in which advertising targeting criteria is submitted to a computingdevice associated with a data management platform (step 602). Theadvertising targeting criteria is usable to target at least oneindividual purchaser to receive a respective advertisement for thepromotion. For example, the targeting information may represent one ormore of a particular age group, gender, income level, geography, website usage, and purchase history. Web site usage may include one or moreof a plurality of characteristics. For example, a web site usage mayinclude one or more of a history of internet web sites visited by the atleast one person, a length of time the at least one person visited aninternet web site, the number of times the at least one person visitedan internet web site, one or more products or services offered for saleon an internet web site visited by the at least one person, a number ofselections in an internet web site made by the at least person, a typeof computing device used for accessing selections, a type of internetweb browser, and a length of time since the at least one person visitedan internet web site. This may include the number of times that anindividual purchaser had previously seen an offer or promotionassociated with a specific campaign.

In such implementation(s), viewer information that is associated with atleast one individual purchaser targeted to receive the respectiveadvertisement is received and processed (step 604). The target viewerinformation may be processed to assess a value of the at least oneindividual purchaser to a respective merchant or group of merchants(step 606). Furthermore, a bid value that is representative of theassessed value may be provided that is associated with presenting therespective advertisement, and transmitted to a computing deviceassociated with an advertisement exchange (step 608). Thereafter, anacceptance of the bid may be received, and a promotion may betransmitted to a computing device associated with the at least oneperson (step 610). In response to the transmitted promotion, anacceptance of the promotion is received and processed to associate thepromotion with the transaction account (step 612).

Moreover and in accordance with one or more implementations, processingthe promotion to associate the promotion with the transaction accountand include accessing one or more databases that include informationassociated with purchasers and transaction accounts. Some of theinformation included in the database(s) that correspond with the atleast one individual purchaser may be selected.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example steps associated with anexample implementation for assigning an offer to a transaction account.At step 702, information is obtained, for example purchased, from anon-line network in which users register and provide personallyidentifiable information. Various forms of information, such as users'geographic information, demographic information, and specific personallyidentifiable information may be obtained. Using the information receivedfrom the on-line network, an index value (e.g., a “match key”) may becreated for the records received from the on-line network (step 704).Using the match key, a linkage of online profile to a user's card numberis assigned in a manner that protects the user's privacy (step 706).Thereafter, the linked ID is passed to a card-linked offer company (step708), and the user receives a notification of the offer being applied toa transaction account following the transaction (step 710).Alternatively, if a cookie is stored and match key variables are alreadyassociated, then there may be no need to match the cookie ID to find thematch data points

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate example progressions of operation of a displayscreen 800 that represent an example on-line network associated with asocial network website. In the example shown in FIG. 8A, a user's homepage (e.g., a “newsfeed”) is shown that includes postings from otherusers of the on-line network who are affiliated with the user. As shownin the example display screen 800, promotion/offer 802 is included thatoffers a 20% discount on a product from a handbag company. As shown inFIG. 8B, the user has selected the offer (indicated at 804) and aplurality of transaction account numbers are illustrated in section 806for the user to select for application of the offer. For example, threeMasterCard-branded accounts are illustrated for selection. For privacypurposes and in the example shown in FIG. 8B, the account numbers areformatted to reveal only a portion of the numbers. The implementationcan be arranged so that the online network does not get access to any ofthe digits in the card number to further protect privacy. In suchimplementation, the advertising unit may be sandboxed and onlycommunicate with the necessary parties.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 8C, the user has selected one of thetransaction account numbers to be applied for the 20% discount offer.Thereafter, when the purchaser purchases the item, the 20% discount isapplied directly to the account associated with the selection by theuser.

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate example progressions of operation of a displayscreen 900 that represents an example on-line network associated with asports ticket purchase site. In the example shown in FIG. 9A, a user isselecting a seat to a baseball game. Three available tickets areillustrated for the user's selection. Upon selection of a seat and thepurchase of the seat for the game, the user is notified, as shown inFIG. 9B, that the user is entitled to a free soft drink. When the userattends the baseball game, the user purchases a soft drink using thesame payment card used to pay for the tickets, and the offer is applieddirectly to the account associated with the card. Multiple transactionaccounts may be provided, and the user can select the same card. In oneor more alternative implementations in which offers are associated witha card that transacts via a POS, a specific item may be transacted forat a later date. In such cases, the user makes the selection and theredeemed offer is associated via the clearinghouse, not via the POS.

Thus, the example shown in FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate functionality inaccordance with the present application in which a promotion may beprovided in connection with ticket purchase and an item sold at thevenue, such as food, drink, souvenier, or other purchasable item. Theoffer may be applied to the card used to purchase one or more tickets.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate example progressions of operation of a displayscreen 1000 that represent an example on-line network associated with asocial network website. In one or more implementations, a user canassociate a promotion with a transaction account and then choose to useanother card and then use the promotion associated transaction accountat another point in time. As shown in the example display screen 1000,promotion/offer 802 is included that offers a 25% discount on a mealfrom a restaurant chain. As shown in FIG. 10B, the user has selected theoffer and a plurality of transaction account numbers are illustrated insection 806 for the user to select for application of the offer. Forexample, three MasterCard-branded accounts are illustrated forselection. For privacy purposes and in the example shown in FIG. 8B, theaccount numbers are formatted to reveal only a portion of the numbers.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 10C, the user has selected one of thetransaction account numbers to be applied for the 25% discount offer andhas enjoyed a meal at the restaurant. Thereafter, when the purchaserpays for the meal using the selected card, the 25% discount is applieddirectly to the account associated with the selection by the user.Alternatively, the discount can be applied as a statement credit at theend of the billing cycle.

Thus, as shown and described herein with reference to FIGS. 8-10,various forms of offers may be applied to transaction accounts and in awide variety of contexts. For example, discounts on items purchased inan e-commerce web site, promotional items given away or sold at sportingevents, and discounts to be applied to future purchases, are allsupported in accordance with the present application. Moreover, thepresent application supports various contexts in connection withcard-linked offers, including providing an architecture and process forthe assignment of a promotion and/or offer to be associated with atransaction account, a promotional advertising unit associated with anindividual purchaser's transaction account, and a promotion associatedwith a transaction account, in which advertising targeting criteria issubmitted to a computing device associated with a data managementplatform.

Although many of the descriptions and examples set forth herein includephysical cards, (e.g., credit and debit cards), the present applicationis not so limited. In one or more implementations, for example, one ormore redeemable offers are applicable to a transaction account that isassociated with a digital wallet. As used herein, the term digitalwallet refers, generally, to an electronic device that stores orotherwise has access to financial (e.g., payment) information and thatcan be used to complete a transaction, such as a financial transaction.For example, a digital wallet may include a computer (e.g., a desktopcomputer, laptop computer or mobile computing device, such as asmartphone, tablet or other portable computing device), as well as asoftware application operating thereon and an infrastructure configuredfor accepting, processing and transmitting information associated withone or more transactions. Transactions involving the use of a digitalwallet may occur at a traditional brick and mortar merchant, and/or mayoccur remotely, such as via a data communication network. Moreover, adigital wallet may be applicable in addition to or in place of, forexample, a credit card, a debit card, a rewards card, a gift card, ahotel room key and/or a membership card. In one or more implementations,a digital wallet maintains a name, address, or some other type ofpersonally identifiable information associated that can be used, forexample, for matching purposes associated with transactionaccount-linked offers, substantially as shown and described herein.

Although illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure have beenshown and described, it should be understood that various changes,substitutions, and alterations can be made by one of ordinary skill inthe art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providing apromotion associated with a transaction account, the method comprising:identifying, with one or more processors, target viewer informationassociated with at least one person targeted to receive anadvertisement; determining, with one or more processors and inaccordance with the target viewer information and the advertisement, aprobability of the at least one person to accept the promotion;selecting, with one or more processors and as a function of thedetermined probability, promotion information associated with thepromotion; transmitting, to a computing device associated with the atleast one person, the promotion information; receiving, from thecomputing device associated with the at least one person, an acceptanceof the promotion; and processing, with one or more processors and inaccordance with the acceptance, the promotion information to associatethe promotion with the transaction account.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the target viewer information includes at least one ofdemographics, geography, browsing behavior, asset ownership data, wealthdata, spending behavior, and further wherein determining the probabilityof the at least one person to accept the promotion includes applyinganalytics of the target viewer information.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the analytics include statistical techniques to identify apropensity to accept the promotion.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinthe analytics include identifying that the target viewer is associatedwith at least one of the respective demographic, the geography, and/orthe spending behavior and identifying that the target viewer fits ahistorical profile of one or more people that have a propensity toaccept the promotion.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the targetviewer information is stored in a cookie ID or mobile device ID.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the target viewer information is determinedafter the at least one person logs into a computing device over anetwork and selected in advance of an advertising campaign.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from a computing deviceassociated with the advertisement, at least one rule associated with thetarget viewer information, wherein determining the probability of the atleast one person to accept the promotion is in accordance with the atleast one rule.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onetransaction account is securely and operatively coupled to a trustedservice manager or a transaction card.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe transaction card is at least one of a credit card, a debit card, arewards card, a gift card, a hotel room key and a membership card. 10.The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, with one or moreprocessors, a propensity score associated with the advertisement and thetarget viewer information, wherein determining the probability of the atleast one person to accept the promotion includes an application of thepropensity score.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the target viewerinformation is associated with a plurality of people, and furthercomprising: selecting, with one or more processors and as a function ofthe determined probability, second promotion information associated witha second promotion; transmitting, to a second computing deviceassociated with at least one other person of the plurality of people,the second promotion information; receiving, from the computing deviceassociated with the at least one other person, an acceptance of thesecond promotion; and processing, with one or more processors, thesecond promotion information to associate the second promotion with asecond transaction account associated with the at least one otherperson.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the promotioninformation to associate the promotion with the transaction accountcomprises: accessing one or more databases that include informationassociated with purchasers and transaction accounts; and selecting atleast some of the information included in the database that correspondswith the at least one person.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising applying the promotion as a function of a transactionassociated with the product or service.
 14. A system for providing apromotion associated with a transaction account, the system comprising:one or more processors configured to interact with a computer-readablemedium in order to perform operations that include: identifying targetviewer information associated with at least one person targeted toreceive an advertisement; determining, in accordance with the targetviewer information and the advertisement, a probability of the at leastone person to accept the promotion; selecting, as a function of thedetermined probability, promotion information associated with thepromotion; transmitting, to a computing device associated with the atleast one person, the promotion information; receiving, from thecomputing device associated with the at least one person, an acceptanceof the promotion; and processing the promotion information and inaccordance with the acceptance to associate the promotion with thetransaction account.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the targetviewer information includes at least one of demographics, geography, andspending behavior, and further wherein determining the probability ofthe at least one person to accept the promotion includes applyinganalytics of the target viewer information.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the analytics include statistical techniques to identify apropensity to accept the promotion.
 17. The system of claim 15, whereinthe analytics include identifying that the target viewer is associatedwith at least one of the respective demographic, the geography, and/orthe spending behavior and identifying that the target viewer fits ahistorical profile of one or more people that have a propensity toaccept the promotion.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the targetviewer information is stored in a cookie ID or mobile device ID.
 19. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the target viewer information is determinedafter the at least one person logs into a computing device over anetwork.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to perform operations that include: receiving,from a computing device associated with the advertisement, at least onerule associated with the target viewer information, and whereindetermining the probability of the at least one person to accept thepromotion is in accordance with the at least one rule.
 21. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the at least one transaction account is securely andoperatively coupled to a trusted service manager or a transaction card.22. The system of claim 14, wherein the transaction card is at least oneof a credit card, a debit card, a rewards card, a gift card, a hotelroom key and a membership card.
 23. The system of claim 14, wherein theone or more processors are further configured to perform operations thatinclude: identifying, with one or more processors, a propensity scoreassociated with the advertisement and the target viewer information,wherein determining the probability of the at least one person to acceptthe promotion includes an application of the propensity score.
 24. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the target viewer information is associatedwith a plurality of people, and wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to perform operations that include: selecting, as afunction of the determined probability, second promotion informationassociated with a second promotion; transmitting, to a second computingdevice associated with at least one other person of the plurality ofpeople, the second promotion information; receiving, from the computingdevice associated with the at least one other person, an acceptance ofthe second promotion; and processing the second promotion information toassociate the second promotion with a second transaction accountassociated with the at least one other person.
 25. The system of claim14, wherein processing the promotion information to associate thepromotion with the transaction account comprises: accessing one or moredatabases that include information associated with purchasers andtransaction accounts; and selecting at least some of the informationincluded in the database that corresponds with the at least one person.26. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to perform operations that include: applying thepromotion as a function of a transaction associated with the product orservice.
 27. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program,the program comprising instructions that, when executed by one or moredata processing apparatus, cause the one or more data processingapparatus to perform operations for providing a promotion associatedwith a transaction account, comprising: identifying target viewerinformation associated with at least one person targeted to receive anadvertisement; determining, in accordance with the target viewerinformation and the advertisement, a probability of the at least oneperson to accept the promotion; selecting, as a function of thedetermined probability, promotion information associated with thepromotion; transmitting, to a computing device associated with the atleast one person, the promotion information; receiving, from thecomputing device associated with the at least one person, an acceptanceof the promotion; and processing the promotion information and inaccordance with the acceptance to associate the promotion with thetransaction account.